2nd Edition: Revised by Kalina Manoylov, Allison Rick VandeVoort, Christine Mutiti, Samuel Mutiti and Donna Bennett in 2017.

Authors' Description:

This course uses the basic principles of biology and earth science as a context for understanding environmental policies and resource management practices. Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, from oil spills to global climate change. In ENSC 1000, you will learn about the science behind these problems; preparing you to make an informed, invaluable contribution to Earth’s future. I hope that each of you is engaged by the material presented and participates fully in the search for, acquisition of, and sharing of information within our class.

Environmental Science Laboratory (ENSC 1000L) is a separate class and you will receive a separate grade for that course.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Evaluate the diverse responses of peoples, groups, and cultures to environmental issues, themes and topics.
• Use critical observation and analysis to predict outcomes associated with environmental modifications.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the causes & consequences of climate change.
• Apply quantitative skills to solve environmental science problems.
• Demonstrate knowledge of environmental law and policy.
• Design and critically evaluate experiments.
• Interpret data in figures and graphs.

This open textbook for Introduction to Environmental Science was created under a Round Two ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.